The present invention generally relates to a system and method to provide interoperability and control between devices, with or without users being involved, using an interoperable identifier and instant messages expressed in natural language.
Messaging applications are extensively used and very popular in Europe, America and other parts of the world. These applications focus on communication between humans, where the applications do not handle the meaning of the message per se, trusting the users to understand it and the possible action that may be derived from the message.
A user may use a controlling device, such as a mobile telephone, tablet, smart watch, etc., to operate and control other devices and/or communicate with other controlling devices. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a response to this need to remotely control devices. Today, the process is such that the user sends commands or information remotely through a controlling device, these specific messages being for a type of device with respect to another type, therefore adapted to the different protocols that these machines and devices understand, in some cases through different messaging applications, such as applications or mobile APPs for example.
Therefore, the user must use different applications with different interfaces (text or graphic) that send these messages to the target devices. These applications are responsible for translating and adapting the commands and instructions of the user to the specific protocol of each device. Due to this, the number of applications to remotely control and monitor devices is increasing rapidly.
Normally, these applications are not compatible with each other, since both the devices and the applications, both software and hardware, are made and developed by different providers. For example, it is not possible to send the same message to a device from Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp or Telegram, since these applications may use different messaging clients both in the controller device and the target device.
There are solutions such as the one proposed in the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,379B2 that proposes an interface that receives requests in natural language from a user and that are transmitted to a natural language server, preferably over the internet. The server processes the request and converts it into commands that may be executed in the devices that the user has.
Document EP2801973A1 proposes a method where a device may recognize the voice that is translated into commands for devices. It is shown that the command may be received in natural language, text, text to voice conversion or vice versa, etc. It is aimed at controlling devices in the home, such as thermostats, lights, etc.
Furthermore, document US20150279366A1 focuses on processing natural language and the interaction with electronic devices; and specifically on that in a user of a voice command or a request is received from a device, for example an IoT device, and such requests are “intelligently” processed by a device, selecting the best possible answer, such that a suitable dialogue or interaction is established between the devices and the users. The recognition process is based in the cloud. The invention mainly focuses on processing requests based on classifying the information received to search for the best response possible.
Document US20150264543A1 shows how to access and control peripheral devices, such as a smart watch for example, by connecting the devices to a social network and using instant messaging, chat. The aim is to reduce the use of different interfaces and therefore learning about the same by the users. In general, the invention focuses more on how to connect the devices to the social network and from there it talks more about translating the information of the devices into a natural language or more understandable for users.
Another document, KR2015069961A relates to a method to control a household device that comprises the steps of receiving in the device a syntax in natural language; determining whether the received syntax in natural language includes information on devices of the homes and, in accordance with the result of this check, selecting the device it is intended for, and generating a control command to control the selected device. In the description translated from Korean, it states that the syntax may be sent through instant messaging or with a dedicated application.
Lastly, document CN104113529A describes a method that, focusing on the use of natural language, aims to connect the IoT world with the social network world. It proposes an IoT Gateway that has a network or social network account as if it were another user, such that the users can interact with the IoT devices or these may report to the networks of the users in a more understandable language for the users. Based on the available translation from Chinese, it follows that everything focuses on the interaction with the Gateway and the configuration thereof.